To increase the number of doctorate-holding scientists from underrepresented groups in the nation's biomedical research workforce, we will create M.S.-to-Ph.D. bridges between Kennesaw State University as the lead institution and doctoral partner institutions the University of Georgia, Georgia Regents University, and the Georgia Institute of Technology. The institutions lie in close proximity to 30% of the U.S. African American population and the South and South Central regions of Appalachia. We will recruit participants from HBCUs and Appalachian-serving institutions that are not yet well integrated into NIH research enterprises as well as from other sources such as the Peach State LSAMP Consortium and other primarily undergraduate institutions throughout the Southeast. KSU's innovative M.S. programs provide interdisciplinary 21st Century curricula and opportunities to work on productive, funded projects with supportive mentoring from researchers who are personally active in the lab. Participants will learn modern research techniques with cutting-edge instrumentation such as optical biosensing, next generation sequencing and confocal microscopy. The programs are small and flexible enough to execute highly individualized development plans and offer training in an array of disciplines from synthetic chemistry to developmental biology and in interdisciplinary endeavors that may take participants from high performance computing to microliter-scale calorimetry. Responsible conduct of research, scientific writing, proposal development and other professional aspects will be covered in depth. From the beginning of their M.S. studies, we will work with participants to help them make informed choices about doctoral programs. Our doctoral partners are the flagship research institutions of the University System of Georgia (USG), are eager to recruit our graduates and feature dozens of well-funded, high-impact doctoral programs ranging from basic biomedical sciences to biomedical engineering to clinical research. A network of active collaborative relationships among investigators at all institutions will be leveraged to foster excellent graduat educations for URM students that will feature cutting-edge training in nurturing environments, high-quality mentoring and smooth transitions between M.S. and Ph.D. programs. KSU and our doctoral partners are uniquely positioned scientifically, geographically, demographically and culturally to succeed in increasing the number of URM Ph.D. scientists.